The proposed law stops pay for members of Congress if they do not pass the budget and individual appropriations bills by Oct. 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. Their pay would be restarted once the respective bills have been passed, but there would be no back pay.

The intent of the bill is to incentivize Congress to put its fiscal house in order. Because of the uncertainty created when Congress fails to approve spending bills on time, billions of dollars are wasted every year. When it fails to meet the deadline, Congress temporarily funds the government several days or weeks at a time through a series of continuing resolutions.

The ultimate debacle of Congressional budget roulette occurs when Congress threatens to, or does, shut down government. After Congress has finished its bickering and provides spending authority, the government re-opens and government employees are paid for the time they were prohibited from coming to work.

No successful business could be run this way. But this is how Congress runs the largest financial entity in the world, the U.S. government. members of Congress has eight months to debate and modify the president’s budget after it is presented in early February, and they don’t do it. This is unacceptable.

Good news is on the horizon. On March 14 there was a very favorable hearing in the Senate. Positive media coverage from CNN, Fox News, C-SPAN, the Associated Press and others reflect the fact that this effort is gaining momentum. In a poll, 88 percent of voters supported No Budget, No Pay.

There are now more than 50 co-sponsors of No Budget, No Pay in the House and Senate, nearly equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. Rep.Dan Benishek is the only Michigan legislator who has co-sponsored the legislation.

When queried, Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s office emphasized that last year she co-sponsored a bill to suspend congressional pay in the event of a government shutdown. No Budget No Pay is a stronger version of her previous position, and hopefully she will co-sponsor this legislation as well.

Sen. Carl Levin has not taken a position. He is an important player because he sits on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that will determine if the bill goes forward.

Sponsoring No Budget, No Pay is the nonpartisan grass roots group No Labels. No Budget, No Pay is one of the 12 proposals in their “Make Congress Work!” plan. Details are at NoLabels.org.

As the country debates the critical issue of big government versus small government, let’s also work toward something we can all agree o: good government.

— Ed Conant graduated from Jackson High School and the U.S. Naval Academy and had a career in the submarine service. After a second career in the defense industry, he retired to Savannah Ga. This column is adapted from one published in the Savannah Morning News.